Happy Birthday Piccolo-san!
by Sunshine-hime
Summary: It's Piccolo's hatch-day and Gohan's got a surprise planned! What could it be and more importantly, can Piccolo stop being a grouch long enough to accept it?


**Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball or Dragonball Z and make no profit from this work.**

"Piccolo-san, Happy Birthday!"

The Namekian kept his back turned to the black-haired boy addressing him at first, since he already could tell who he was just by his chi and his voice, which had deepened with his maturity.

"It's good to see you again Gohan." Piccolo finally turned around to face him and smirked at his former discipline, who was currently wearing his normal high school garb, but with the sleeves pushed up (_strange, usually his uniform is much neater than that)_, and a beige sweater vest instead of a black one. He also noticed Gohan was carrying a large white board, which was almost half the size of him. "But what's all this nonsense about my birthday, and what _is_ that you're holding?" His eyes traveled back to the board for emphasis.

Before Gohan could speak up, however, another familiar voice interrupted.

"Ah, Piccolo! Don't tell me you forgot your own hatch-day." Dende, a Namekian like Piccolo, walked over to the two, a friendly look in his eyes. "Nice to see you Gohan! I hope you're doing well."

Gohan turned to Dende with a wide grin on his face. "How have you've been? And you should know how I'm doing; after all, you are Kami-sama."

Dende chuckled at this and then focused his attention on what Gohan was holding. "Is that supposed to be Piccolo's hatch-day gift?"

Gohan looked blankly at Dende in confusion, before realization hit him. "Oh, you mean his birthday. I suppose hatch-day would be the Namekian name for it." Gohan nodded to answer the previous question, the smile returning. "Yeah, but it's a surprise so Piccolo-san isn't allowed to see it yet, right?" He then turned to Piccolo, taking his left hand off the board to adjust his school bag strap. The smile soon left his face and he took on a more thoughtful look. "Speaking of surprises, Piccolo-san, would you come with me for a while?" He turned back to Dende again. "Is that alright Dende?"

Dende nodded his head, barely containing his excitement. "Of course it is. I can manage just fine on my own."

Piccolo cleared his throat loudly, getting the attention of both teens, and causing them to look back at him. "I don't understand why you two are making such a big deal about my hatch-day. There's nothing special about it and no reason for any celebration." Piccolo spoke in a serious tone and Gohan would have taken him as such if not for the half-smile that graced his visage.

Gohan used this moment of weakness to his advantage and stared up at his former mentor with large eyes. "Come on, please? I promise you'll enjoy it."

Piccolo wiped any traces of amusement off his face and stared at him, not really wanting to deal with such troublesome rituals.

Gohan continued to give him an innocent look that Piccolo would have described as borderline pouty. Piccolo began to develop a mild twitch in his left eye and after a while he finally sighed, resigning to his fate. "Fine, I'll go."

His former student's eyes lit up and, placing the board on the tiled floor of the lookout, he began rustling inside his school bag. He eventually pulled out a long, thin, white cloth. Piccolo furrowed his eyebrows. _Funny, that looks suspiciously like a—_

"Here, put on this blindfold." And before Piccolo could open his mouth to protest, Gohan continued, presenting him with the white cloth. "Our destination is part of the surprise as well. You don't want to ruin the _surprise_ now do you?" The wide grin was back on his face, in all its glory, or stupidity, according to the discontented Namekian.

Piccolo sighed again and grabbed the blindfold from Gohan's outstretched hand irritably but tying it securely around his head anyway and making sure to completely cover his eyes.

Once he finished, Gohan picked up the white board with his right hand and grabbed Piccolo's hand with his free hand. He said a final farewell to Dende before he gathered his chi and pushed it downward, the familiar rush of power rustling Piccolo's white cape. Piccolo barely had enough time to draw out his own chi before Gohan took off from the lookout.

Mr. Popo, who had seen Gohan rush off with Piccolo and felt the excited fluctuations of Gohan's chi, emerged from the main building of the lookout and walked over to where Dende stood. "Dende-sama, what was that about?"

Dende turned to face the alien, a long time servant of the many Kami that ruled over Earth, a grin almost as wide as Gohan's splitting his face.

"Oh, he's just giving Piccolo his hatch-day surprise."

They had been flying for quite some time now, Piccolo getting grumpier by the minute. Several times he had threaten to take the ridiculous blindfold off and go back to the lookout, and each time Gohan had reassured him that it would be worth the trip. He finally gave up complaining, and instead focused on suppressing the blush that threatened to color his cheeks. What really bothered Piccolo, however, was the fact that Gohan spent so much effort on this particular day. In his entire life, no one has ever even mentioned his hatch-day (_or birthday, or whatever humans called it)_, let alone celebrated it and yet here was this kid—no, this young man—treating today as if it was actually something special. The most peculiar thing was that somewhere deep in his heart, he kind of liked the attention.

And that scared him a little.

While he wasn't the same, vengeance driven being when he first faced Son Goku in that fated tournament, he still had his pride and thought himself far removed from such trivial matters. And yet, just as Gohan had slowly drained the hate from his heart all those years ago, he still continued to affect him, making him soft and weak. The worst part was he didn't even mind feeling this way. _Shit, I'm becoming too sentimental._ He began to mentally chastise himself but a loud voice interrupted his train of thought, almost visibly startling him.

"Piccolo-san, we're here! Just drop straight down."

Piccolo felt Gohan's chi recede and he took that as a cue to slowly abate his own, until he felt his feet touch the ground, hearing the sound of Gohan landing as well. The Namekian removed the blindfold once Gohan gave him the signal and looked around, quickly taking in his surroundings. The area had a somewhat unique terrain, with grassy plains, high rocky cliffs and small, odd shaped trees peppering the vicinity. They were on a particularly high cliff, one that looked strangely familiar.

Gohan saw his former mentor knit his brows together while he surveyed the land. "This area should look familiar to you."

Piccolo turned to face Gohan and waited for him to continue speaking, even though he was starting to get a good idea of where they were.

"This is where you first trained me, Piccolo-san." Gohan was smiling softly at his former mentor, thinking of fond memories. "I thought we could spend some time and—"

"Talk about the old days." Piccolo finished Gohan's sentence and felt a similar smile playing at his lips. Even if this was another trivial matter, he couldn't help but indulge himself, especially if it was with the young man who he thought of as a son. "Sounds like a plan then." Piccolo sat down on the ground and crossed his legs, his back pressed against a narrower cliff that extended further upward. Gohan sat down next to him and tucked his legs underneath him, carefully placing his board down beside himself.

The two reminisced for hours, from when Gohan began his training in the wilderness with Piccolo, to the final fight against Majin Buu, and everything else in between. They shared somber thoughts, teased each other, laughed accordingly, and eventually they stopped speaking altogether, simply enjoying each other's company.

With the sun beginning to set, Gohan suddenly reached for the mysterious board he had been carrying with him all this time. He turned his body around, still sitting, and faced Piccolo.

"This," he flipped the board over, "is the second part of your present." He sat the board upright on his lap, and Piccolo leaned over to get a better view.

A moment later, his eyes slightly widened in surprise and he took the board from him, holding it in his own hands. "Gohan. This is—"

It was a painting of Piccolo and Gohan, sparring under the glow of the setting sun in the same wilderness where the two currently sat now. Gohan was still a little boy at the time, and was aiming a kick at his then master, who was already in a guard stance, ready to parry it easily. Gohan's serious and focused expression was the perfect opposite to Piccolo's confident, almost cocky features. The vibrantly colored painting perfectly captured the precious moment in time. Piccolo concentrated so hard on the picture that he almost didn't notice when Gohan started speaking to him again.

"I started painting it a month ago. At first, I had trouble figuring out what to paint but I eventually decided on this moment. I had trouble painting myself as well and I even had to look at old family pictures to get it just right…" Gohan realized that he was rambling and had to stop himself. He scratched the back of his neck nervously, a faint blush staining his cheeks.

"I picked this scene—this moment—because it was the turning point, and by far the most important one, in my life. Piccolo-san," he hesitated for a moment and made eye-contact with Piccolo—who at this point was staring intently at him—with his hands now folded neatly in his lap. For all his intelligence, Gohan couldn't figure out how to convey just how much Piccolo changed his life and how much he meant to him. With a shaky breath, Gohan said two words that held everything he wanted to say but didn't know how to.

"Thank you."

And for the first time in his life, a single tear rolled down Piccolo's cheek. Gohan took the painting from his hands, which was already stained with the tear drop, and placed it back on the ground. He then wrapped his arms around the man he considered a second father, and whispered softly in his ear:

"Happy Birthday Piccolo-san."

**AN: I just love Gohan and Piccolo and really wanted to write a sweet story involving the two. A point of interest:**

**It is heavily implied in canon that Gohan can paint/draw. There are several examples scattered around in the series that shows this. I found out from the Boxer and Rice fansite.**

**Thanks for readinｇ！**


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